‘Hoy’ is fine, but what about common human situations?
This year, the OED has borrowed from Malaysia, Norway, Japan, and the Philippines.
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At a dinner once, I sat next to a person who turned to me with, “Can I have some more juice please?” when he meant gravy. Ignoring for the moment the kind of circles I move in, let’s focus on the more serious issue here. There is no word in the English language that describes such a person. Nor is there one for the way people stand when examining other people’s bookshelves. Or for the gesture when you see someone you think you know and raise your hand in greeting only to realise he is a stranger and so finish by brushing your hair instead. There are two ways of creating new words (the dictionary does ...